My work is comprised of masks. The indigenous power of masks inspires the spirit, energy, and soul of my work. I use masks to reveal my inner self, similar to how masks were used in ritual ceremonies in the ancient past. The masks that I create break the grounds of my physical containment and open the curtains of my creative energy and psychological chaos. They allow me to embrace my vulnerability and my strength. My work encompasses prints, paintings, and ceramic sculptures. I work expressively by layering the process of mark making in an intuitive manner. Each layer I create reveals an ever-blossoming abstraction. The journey in creating masks has been a cathartic and spiritual experience. My restraints are down and the chaos consumes my mask compositions. It is through this chaos that I can breathe.

how does a structure signal change? in the absence of conformational alteration, of opening or closing, a dynamic must develop as a temporal function of the participant's experience. in a place where change is sought after, the mask of the skin is lifted. renewal is found. / Master of Architecture

For my thesis I explored the idea of the mask in relation to architecture. For my project I designed an art gallery located in Georgetown Washington DC which is composed of three layers: a structural layer, an environmental casing, and an outer layer. Theoretical parallels are drawn between the outer layer of the gallery and what is commonly referred to as a mask. Additionally, I explored the interaction between the layers of the gallery. The distinguishing characteristics of the building include the tri-facade mask, the unique spaces in between the gallery's layers, the glass system, the mask's ghost effect, and the floor system. / Master of Architecture

Lacks table of contents and abstract. / 1 v. (various pagings) : ill. ; 25 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.1975)--The Dept. of Entomology, University of Adelaide

Background: Laryngospasm is a common and often serious adverse respiratory event encountered during anesthetic care of children. We examined, in a case control design, the risk factors for laryngospasm in children. Material and Methods: The records of 130 children identified as having experienced laryngospasm under general anesthesia were examined. Cases were identified from those prospectively entered into the Mayo Clinic performance improvement database between January 1, 1996 and December 31, 2005. Potential demographic, patient, surgical and anesthetic related risk factors were determined in a 1 : 2 case-control study. Results: No individual demographic factors were found to be significantly associated with risk for laryngospasm. However, multivariate analysis demonstrated significant associations between laryngospasm and intercurrent upper respiratory infection (OR 2.03 P = 0.022) and the presence of an airway anomaly (OR = 3.35, P = 0.030). Among those experiencing laryngospasm during maintenance or emergence, the use of a laryngeal mask airway was strongly associated even when adjusted for the presence of upper respiratory infection and airway anomaly (P = 0.019). Ten patients experienced postoperatively one or more complications whereas only three complications were observed among controls (P = 0.008). No child required cardiopulmonary resuscitation and there were no deaths in either study cohort. Conclusions: In our pediatric population, the risk of laryngospasm was increased in children with upper respiratory tract infection or an airway anomaly. The use of laryngeal mask airway was found to be associated with laryngospasm even when adjusted for the presence of upper respiratory tract infection and airway anomaly.

In many applications such as beam shaping, mode conversion, and phase encoding it is necessary to alter the spatial phase profile of a beam via a phase mask. Conventional techniques to accomplish this either involve surface relief profiling in thin films such as PMMA or refractive index modulation in bulk photorefractive crystals such as lithium niobate. These materials have been used extensively for the past several decades and perform admirably in low power conditions. However, in high power systems these materials will be destroyed, requiring a new means of producing phase masks. In this dissertation a method for producing robust phase masks in the bulk of photo-thermo-refractive glass is developed and successfully demonstrated. Three main applications of phase masks were studied in detail. The first is mode conversion, where binary phase masks convert a Gaussian beam to higher order modes. The second is beam shaping, where phase masks are used as focusing elements and for optical vortex generation. Near-theoretical conversion efficiency was achieved for all elements in these cases. The third application is aberration analysis and correction. Here the degradation of volume Bragg gratings recorded in an aberrated holographic system was modeled, with the simulations indicating that correcting elements are generally necessary for high-quality production of gratings. Corrective phase masks are designed which can selectively correct one or multiple aberrations of varying magnitudes are shown. A new type of optical element is also developed in which a phase mask is encoded into a transmitting Bragg grating. This technique combines the local phase modulation of a phase mask with the multiplexing ability of transmitting Bragg gratings, allowing for multiple phase masks to be recorded in a single element. These masks may be used at any wavelength iii satisfying the Bragg condition, increasing the useful wavelength regime of a single element by orders of magnitude.

The information presented herein attempts to quantify the conditions surrounding concussive impacts from foul tips to the masks of catchers and umpires in baseball. Media reports of such occasions were researched on video and pitch speed data from the Pitch F/X system recorded to suggest speeds and locations at which impacts occur. To evaluate mask performance, a pneumatic-wheel, electric-motor driven pitching machine was utilized to shoot baseballs at the instrumented head of a Hybrid III dummy. Head accelerations were calculated from a 3-2-2-2 accelerometer array to allow for comparisons of linear and angular kinematics. 6 common masks (2-piece traditional-style and 1-piece hockey-style) were tested at 7 locations at 60 mph to determine the severity of each location. The center-eyebrow and chin locations were further tested at 84 mph. Speed and location data were used to evaluate a large sample of 25 masks to explore possible performance differences between manufacturer models, mask types and cage styles. The results of this study showed no significant difference between hockey-style and traditional-style mask performance. Titanium caged masks, although lighter than their steel counterparts, experienced higher linear accelerations. However, all masks experienced linear and angular accelerations well below commonly accepted injury thresholds. Yet, concussive injury has still occurred in the players and umpires that wear these masks. The work presented here can be used to help better understand these thresholds and influence the design, construction and evaluation of a new generation of masks that decrease the risk of concussions to the wearer. / Master of Science

The very first anaesthetics were gaseous. These early slow, irritant or flammable drugs were ultimately displaced by intravenous agents, despite other beneficial properties. Preliminary work with two new insoluble, potentially rapid-acting nonflammable anaesthetics showed desflurane, the less soluble, to be too irritant while sevoflurane was smooth and well-tolerated. This thesis set out to examine possible clinical andlor financial benefits from the use of sevoflurane in day case patients. A double-blind comparison showed sevoflurane to induce anaesthesia almost as rapidly as the most common intravenous drug, but to minimise apnoea and hypotension, with a smoother transition to the maintenance phase and faster emergence from brief day case anaesthesia. While a few patients found gaseous induction unpleasant, this was not confirmed by an audit of sevoflurane's more widespread use. Further work evaluated alternative, vital capacity, induction techniques. However, simple tidal breathing was found to be equally effective but more consistent, appearing to be the method of choice, even compared with the most recent, optimised delivery of intravenous anaesthetics. Gaseous induction was shown to facilitate airway maintenance with either a face mask or laryngeal mask. Double-blind comparisons showed that it also provided acceptable conditions for tracheal intubation in the small minority of day case patients in whom this is required. Compared to the usual intravenous anaesthetic, gaseous induction with sevoflurane was shown to be less expensive under most common circumstances. Gaseous induction also reduced anaesthetic consumption during the subsequent maintenance phase, making it the most efficient way in which to use inhalation anaesthetics. Having reestablished gaseous induction as an important technique with clinical and financial benefits in modem day case practice, this thesis concludes with suggestions for future research to further refine the process and find solutions to some minor problems, such as occasional patient reticence and the possibility of increased postoperative nausea.

No description available.

The purpose of this study is to determine, by a chronological review, the evolution of the mask-veil symbol as a device in Hawthorne's fiction and to ascertain its relevancy as a concrete manifestation of the abstract idea it betokens.